Recording software? What should I get?

treflip98

I have a band of me on drums, 2 singers, 2 guitarists, and a bassist. I want to record and I have been, but I have been using a chat mic and a free trial recording program off the internet call mixcraft. It works ok but not as good as I need. First I will sound proof my band room so the room won't have to many echoes and overtones. I want to get a recording program for the computer that will record all the musicians and instruments I have at a fair price. I will also need a mixer that will plug em all up. I have one mic and will be getting more. Cables should be no problem for me. So I bassicaly need to know what recording program I should get and a good mixer. Oh yeah also what are some good recording/computer speakers? I hope to spend no more than $1000.

scrubs · Little Hamster Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 77

Check out my response in this thread: http://drumdogs.com/message-board-forum/viewtopic.php?t=14502

As for specific software, the major programs (Cubase, Sonar, ProTools) all have offerings that should meet your needs. ProTools must be used with a supported soundcard/interface (ProTools LE works only with Digidesign hardware, and ProTools M-Powered works only with certain M-Audio hardware). The other programs can generally be used with most soundcards/interfaces. You might want to also check out Reaper, which is only $40 for personal use, or $100 for commercial use.

The main issues will be how many individual sources/tracks will you need to record, simultaneously? Will you be tracking the band all at once (live), or recording one instrument at a time? If you're tracking things one at a time, you will probably use the most microphones on drums, so you'll need a mixer/soundcard/interface that has at least that many inputs/outputs and software that will record that many sources simultanously.